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J W TUPTS 8v J RAMSEY VSODA WATER DISPENSING APPARATUS. No.-431,491.

Patented July 1.1890.

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UNITED STATES VPAT-ENT OEEICE.

JAMES V. TUFTS, OF MEDFORD, AND JONATHAN RAMSEY, OF BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS; SAID RAMSEY ASSIGNOR TO SAID TUFTS.

SODA-WATER-DISPENSING APPARATUS.

SPECIlIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,491, dated July1, 1.890. Application filed January 24,1890. Serial No. 337,983. (Nomodel.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES XV. TUFTS, of Medford, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, and JONATHAN RAMSEY, of Boston, inthe county of Suffolk and State aforesaid, have invented certainImprovements in Soda-Vater-Dispensing Apparatus, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a portion of a soda-waterdispensingapparatus, showing one of the sirup-cans provided with a measuring gateor faucet constructed in accordance with our invention, and the leverfor operating the same from the outside of the casing. Fig. 2 is anenlarged vertical section of the measuring-faucet. Fig. 3 is ahorizontal section of the same on the line as of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is afront elevation of the measuring-faucet. Fig. 5 is a sectional elevationon the line y y of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of thedouble-headed valve.

Our invention relates to certain improvements in the valve mechanism ofsirup cans or tanks of soda-water-dispensing apparatus, and has for itsobject to provide a simple, durable, and effective measuring gate orfaucet for said Sirup-cans which is adapted to be operated by a lever orhandle.

To this end our invention consists in the combination, with a Sirup-canprovided with an outlet-opening, of a gate or faucet having ameasuring-chamber provided with a rocking double-headed valve adapted toalternately open and close the inlet and discharge openings of saidchamber, said valve having a rock-shaft extending outside the chamber,and a spring for normally holding the valve in a position to close theoutlet-opening of the measuring-chamber and simultaneously leave itsinlet-aperture open, as hereinafter more particularly described; and ourinvention also consists in the combination, with a measuring gate orfaucet provided with a rocking valve, as described, of an air-valveadapted to be operated at the proper time by the action of theSirup-valve mechanism, whereby the necessary supply of air is admittedto the measuring-chamber to allow thefree discharge of its contents.

In the said drawings, A represents a portion of the front of the marbleor outer casing of a soda-water-dispensing apparatus, and B the metallining` of the same.

C is one of the Sirup-cans, composed of glass, porcelain, or othersuitable material, these cans being of rectangular shape and arranged,as usual, side by side along the entire length of the apparatus. C issecured, by means of a swiveling nut b or otherwise, a sirup gate orfaucet D, consisting of a metallic, glass, or glass-lined shell, theinterior of which forms a measuringchamber a, of suitable size tocontain the required quantity of sirup fora single glass of soda. Thehead or top b of the faucet is provided with an inlet-aperture c,forming a continuation of the short pipe 10, by means of which thefaucet is secured to the Sirup-can. The bottom d of the faucet, which ismade removable to afford convenient access to the chamber for' cleansingor repairs, is screwed into the lower end of the shell, a packing-ring12 being introduced between the two to make a tight joint. At the centerof the bottom d is an outlet-aperture e, which coincides with an openingf in the lining B, a vertical flange g, around the edge o f the bottomd, resting `on the lining B, which thus serves to support `the sirup-canand its gate in their proper positions, and prevents the escape ofmelted ice or water produced by condensation.

Within the chamber a is placed a rocking double-headedyvalve G, which issecurely fastened to a horizontal oscillating shaft h, located on oneside of the chamber and passing through a stuffing-box t', outside ofwhich said shaft carries a crank-arm 7c on a wing or projection Z, onwhich rests the outer end of a spring m, which is carried around theshaft h, the inner end of the spring resting against the under side of aprojection 15 on the outside of the shell of the casing. Against theunder side of the arm 7a rests the inner end of a lever H, whichispivoted at 16 within a vertical slot in a sleeve or bushing 17, securedby a nut 1S within an aperture in the front wall of the apparatus, thehandle of the lever To the bottom of the can l IOO H being located onthe outside of the said wall, and the inner end of said lever, whichcontacts with the crank-arm 7c, being preferably provided with ananti-friction roll 19, and as the arm 7a and the end of the lever H arenot connected together itwill be obvious that the sirup-can may beraised for the purpose of removing it from the apparatus withoutdisturbing the lever H, or requiring any special attention on the partof the attendant. The valve G consists of an angular or L- shaped pieceprovided with a short sleeve 20, through which the shaft h passes, andto which it is secured by a set-screw 8. The outer transverse portion ofthe valve has at one end a fiat disk 2l, provided with an elasticpacking and forming the upper head of the valve, and at the opposite endof the said transverse portion is a cup-shaped socket 23, within whichis placed a rubber ball 24, forming the lower head of the valve, saidball having a central aperture and being held Within the socket byspringing it over the headed stud 25, projecting down from the center ofthe said socket, the stud entering a central aperture in the elasticball, as seen in Fig. 2. The distance apart of the upper and lower'heads of the valve Gand their position with respect to each other aresuch that when the valve is held by its spring m in the position seen inFig. 2 the lower head or ball 24 will be closed tightly down on its seatto prevent any escape of the sirupthrough the outletopening e, while theupper head of the valve will be drawn away from its seat to allow theSirup to flow freely from the can C through the aperture c into themeasuring-chamber a. lVhen, however, the valve is rocked by the movementof the shaft h against the influence of the spring m, which is effectedby means of the handle H, the upper head 0f the valve is brought upagainst its seat, thereby closing the aperture c and simultaneouslyraisin g the lower head of the valve from its seat, which uncovers theoutlet or discharge opening e, through which the contents of the chambera will flow directly into the glass I beneath. To enable the contents ofthe chamber a to escape freely, and thus facilitate the flow of sirup,it is advisable to admit a supply of air. We therefore provide the topof the chamber with an air-vent p, which is kept normally closed by avalve q, secured tothe upper end of a rod fr', having at its lower end ahead s, which fits within a tubular casing t, secured to the outside ofthe shell of the faucet. The rod r is encircled between the head s andthe upper end of the tube t, through which it passes, by a spiral springu, the rod r being prevented from turning on its axis by a pin fwfitting within an open slot at the lower end of the tube t, as seen inFigs. 4 and 5, whereby the valve is prevented from getting out of itsproper position over the vent-openingp, which communicates with thechamber a. The lower end or head s of the rod lrlies within the path ofthe projection Z of the arm 7c, so that when the latter is raised bythelever H to rock the valve G the valve q will be opened against thestress of the spring u to admit a sufficient supply of-air to enable thecontents of the measuring-chamber to ow freely into the glass beneath.

rThe relative arrangement of thevalves and their operative mechanism issuch that the air-valve will commence to open just as the upper head ofthe valve G reaches its seat and before it is tightly closed and afterthe lower or outlet aperture e has been completely opened. This causesthe pressure of the sirup in the can C above to be removed from themeasuring-chamber, thus preventing the sirup from overflowing throughthe air-valve when opened, while the remaining motion of the upper headof the si rup-valve required to tightly close the inlet-aperture c issufficient to allow the projection Z of the arm k to raise the air-valveand admit the air to the chamber a, as required. On the release of thelever H the valve G is rocked in the opposite direction by the spring m,when, after the air-valve has been closed by its spring u, the lowerhead of the valve will close the outletaperture e, the upper head of thevalve at the same time opening the inlet-aperture c, when the sirup willagain flow from the sirup-can and fill the measuring-chamber a, readyfor the next operation.

Ve prefer to employ an elastic ball at the lower end of the valve G, asit conforms readily to the valve-seat in case there should be any changein its height due to the variation of the thickness of the packing-ringat the joint of the removable bottom of the measuringchamber.

The above-described measuring-gate is simple, durable, and effective,not liable to get out of order, and requires no nice adjustment,

IOO

thereby specially adapting it for use in sodai water-dispensingapparatus, while the springs and mechanism for operating the valve,being located outside the measuring-chamber, are free from liability tobecome clogged by contact with the sirup.

What we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. In a soda-water apparatus having a sirupcan provided with anoutlet-opening, a gate or faucet having a measuring-chamber providedwith a rocking double-headed valve adapted to alternately open and closethe inlet and discharge openings of said chamber, said valve having arock-shaft extending outside the chamber, and a spring for normallyholding the valve in a position to close the outlet-opening of themeasuring-chamber and simultaneously leave its inlet-aperture open,substantially as set forth.

2. In a soda-water-dispensing apparatus, the combination, with aSirup-can provided with an outlet-opening, of a gate or faucet having ameasuring-chamber provided with a rocking double-headed valve adapted toalternately open and close the inlet and dis- IIO IZO

charge openings of said chamber, said valve having a rock-shaft.extending outside the chamber and adapted to be operated by alever, aspring` for normally holding the valve in a position to close theoutlet-opening of the measuring-chamber and simultaneously leave itsinlet-aperture open, and an air valve or vent for admitting air to themeasuring-chainber, substantially as set forth.

3. In a soda-Water-dispensing apparatus, the combination, with aSirup-can provided with an outletopening, of a gate or faucet providedWith a measuring-chamber, a rocking double-headed valve adapted toalternately open and close the inlet and discharge openings of the saidmeasuring-chamber, a rocking Valve rod or shaft extending outside themeasuring-chamber and provided With an arm, a spring for normallyholding the valve in a position to close the outlet-opening of themeasuring-chamber, and simultaneously leave its inlet-aperture open, alever adapted io contact With the arm of the valve-shaft and rock thevalve against the influence of its spring, and an air-valve adapted tobe operated by the Sirup-valve mechanism, Whereby air is admitted to themeasuring-chamber at the time of the closing of its inlet-apen ture andthe opening of its discharge-aperture, substantially as described.

open, the lever I-I, bearing against the arm k,

and adapted to operate the valve G, and the air-valve q, with itsspring-actuated rod r, adapted to be lifted by the arm k just beforetheinlet-aperture of the measuring-chamber is fully closed, alloperating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

Vitn ess our hands this 20th day of January, A. 'D. 1890.

JAMES W. TFTs. JONATHAN RAMsEY.

Y In presence of- P. E. TESCHEMACHER, FRANK J. MoRToN.

